


Speak Now

by Aldela



Category: Ouran High School Host Club - All Media Types
Genre: 13+ and up, Angst and Humor, Angst with a Happy Ending, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fluff, Guess we'll find out!, Humor, I hope he'll be okay, It's the Host Club! But they're all in their 20s, Romance, This story is basically Hikaru making a lot of bad decisions, Unrequited Love, loveless engagement
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-15
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:15:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27017917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aldela/pseuds/Aldela
Summary: He knew he'd lost Haruhi that day at the airport, and he'd have to let go of that crazy idea that he still had a chance with her, when he pushed her to realize her feelings and choose his best friend over him instead. Now, -6 years later- when he finds out his family has been harboring a lot of personal debts, Hikaru will forfeit love to marry for money, and Kaoru struggles to turn that pumpkin back into a carriage, and save his brother before the clock strikes 00:00.
Relationships: Hikaru Hitachin/Haruhi Fujioka, Hikaru and Haruhi
Comments: 1
Kudos: 15





	1. Chapter 1

Hikaru fell in love.

The depressing thing was, is that the very moment he realized it, his heart that suddenly felt so full, was quickly ripped away from him and torn in two.

It'd happened so fast he barely had time to relish in that sweet, fleeting feeling that almost made him light on his feet, before he was knocked over on his hands and kicked while he was down.

It'd happened so fast, that he'd laid his chin on her shoulder and inhaled with a smile, then exhaled the same breath with a sigh.

He urged her forward, hands on her shoulders, shoving her towards the direction of that blubbering blonde idiot he unfortunately called his best friend.

He fell in love, the same moment Mrs. Anne-Sophie's plane happened to fly over their heads and muffle the single painful sob that escaped him, before he could muffle it behind his sleeve.

When the dust from the pavement settled and he watched from the window of the lobby as they held each other and confessed every ounce of buried feelings to each other, Hikaru knew he was in love, because Haruhi Fujioka broke his heart.

Then the feeling slowly started to come back to his knees when Kaoru gave a hearty pat to his shoulder that almost sent him bundling forward and whispered in his ear that it was over. "It's over. It's over, Hikaru. Your work paid off. You did it."

I did it.

The irony of that.

And just a day passed before he was forced back into their normal. What was supposed to be his normal. When the Host Club's doors opened after surviving disbandment, and they had to host together, smile together, laugh together, while he had to bury his feelings by himself. While he was stuck at a crossroad, struggling between feeling sorry for himself, and being happy for his friends, who were so obviously in love.

It was like a tiny man was doing somersaults in the pit of his stomach, threatening to make him sick. He was lucky that his primary job was keeping all eyes on his brother, and he could milk him of all the distraction he could until the bell rang and they could go home.

Is what he hoped, before Haruhi suddenly took his hand and made him face her, rosy cheeks cupped with white silk and pearls. Eyes bursting with something he'd never quite seem on her before. Something of warmth and fondness. Complete and utter adoration.

"What's that girly look for?" he teased.

Haruhi ignored that, dimples appearing at each end of her glossy lips. That shade of pink suited her.

"There's this really weird feeling in my chest," she said, as her fingers touched the place just above her heart. "I feel weirdly at peace."

"I had no idea it could feel like this," she added after he turned away, lips tightening, but her expression didn't falter. "And it's all because of you that I was able to tell him how I felt. I don't what I would have done without you."

Hikaru scoffed, wishing his dumb cosplay had pockets so he had something to do with his hands. A distraction. "Obviously. I'm the best."

Then she looked on somewhere, looking at nothing in particular as she let out a soft, sort of sad sigh.

He tweaked his brow, looking away from Tamaki as he looked into the eyes of some gushing fangirl, telling his exaggerated, more romantic version of how he and Haruhi confessed, and that, despite the popular belief within the host club, he was actually the one who confessed first.

Liar.

"So." She breathed.

"...So?"

"You're going to Spain?" She said. It was kind of sudden that he and Kaoru decided that. Especially right after declaring they'd all go to Boston with her.

"Seems so," he nodded thoughtfully. "What's with that tone? You're not going to - dare I say - miss me, will you?"

She smirked, directing her eyes to the buffet table, where they'd laid a gourmet of food made by a chef Kyoya had hired straight from Greece. She had yet to try any. "I was just thinking. It's hard to believe that a month from now, we'll all be thousands of miles away."

Truly. They'd all tried to so hard to keep the Host Club, and now they were breaking up and going abroad.

"You're so going to miss me." He decided.

She hesitated. "I guess I will... What will you do?"

"You're not the only one with dreams and ambitions," she flinched when he jabbed his finger between her eyes, and stuck out his tongue. "Sure, we can't all be top notch lawyers, but I'll try to keep up with you."

She nodded slowly, seeming to be in deep thought once something over took her mind. Then she looked back at him, brow furrowed, and her tiny hand clenched in such a tight fist. Suddenly bursting with so much serious determination he almost couldn't laugh.

"Let's do our best then," She said. "No matter what. Even if things don't go the way we plan, let's make the most of it."

He was quiet for a moment, watching her eyes, unmoving, her shimmer of her lips, every dimple twitch. He almost forgot what she was saying. But then he grinned, mimicking her stance and bumped the side of his fist against her's.

"I'll hold you to it." He said. "Fujioka."

Then she smiled the kind of smile he could drown in. So simple. So, so beautiful.

"Don't be stupid while I'm gone, Hitachiin."

"You drive a hard bargain."

Then they were silent. As noise arouse within the club and they were left in the background, their hands slowly coming entwined. Unspoken feelings and fears mutual between them. But neither admitting. That growing up was right around the corner. That leaving was scary. The shared, sad realization that they were going to be okay without them but being not so sure that they'd be okay without them.

And the feeling of her small hand slipping away from him, as she pulled away to be closer to Tamaki as he gestured to her from a distance told Hikaru that he'd have to go much further than Spain to truly let go.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- 6 Years Later -

Their mother had lost her mind.

That's what was definitely happening as far as Kaoru was concerned. An arranged marriage? Pffaah! The very idea.

Pérez. Yesterday that name meant as little to him as the brand name of his favorite moisturizer. Until lunch today came around and they were acquainted with Mr. Pérez and they had to escort his eldest daughter Irene around the Museo del Prado.

It was obvious the girl had no sense of the finer things in life. His first impression of her was that she was ten a penny. She had to be! She spent the entire time digging her painted red claws into his poor brother's arm and ogling where the buttons met his chest, like a piece of meat was going to crawl out the front of his shirt, instead of appreciating the architectural value of the museum.

Kaoru knew instantly Miss Irene wasn't going to be worth their time, or breath, when the first time she bothered to learn which of them was Hikaru was when their mother had let slip that he was starting his own branch off their father's software development company, and therefore, he was looking for a new wife.

Hikaru had started choking on his salad at that and dear Irene thought she'd start her wifely duties early by gently thumping him on the back.

Sure he'd been a crutch more than a few times for their mom. He'd broken out his hosting skills a few times, spoken a few foreign tongues, and it was mostly for the sake of impressing liable clients, but it looks like she'd really gone off her rocker this time.

Kaoru had finished wiping away a tear from his eye when he threw himself on the couch beside his brother, who'd been unusually quiet since he'd gotten back from meeting with their mom almost an hour ago. And for some strange reason, Kaoru hadn't been invited.

"Are you alright, dear?" he mimicked the sound Irene made as he reached up and caressed Hikaru cheek, but he couldn't take himself seriously and burst into another laughing fit.

"Shut up." Hikaru grumbled.

Kaoru's sigh was heavy when Hikaru swatted his hand away "Be gentle with me. My ribs hurt."

"It's not funny."

"And did you see the way she ate the carrots from her salad?" Kaoru puckered his lips. "It was like a duck wearing lipstick."

"I didn't notice," Hikaru said, blocking his face with a magazine.

Kaoru huffed, crossing his arms, scooting up just enough so his head was laying on Hikaru's lap. Yeah right. He had plenty to say in the text messages they exchanged at the table during lunch before he choked."I mean, what's her deal? Trying to marry you off like you're some ugly widow," he asked, closing his eyes. But Hikaru wasn't offering any suggestions. Apparently he was still too shocked by the very notion too. Poor Hikaru. "Man, I wish I'd seen the look on mom's face when you told her no."

Hikaru made a weird sound behind his magazine that made Kaoru glance up.

"Come again?"

Hikaru turned a page, muffling the sound of his mumble. "I didn't say..."

"That's funny." Kaoru laid back down. "There must still be some water in my ears from my bath. I thought you said you didn't say no."

"Is it hot in here?" Hikaru spoke up, fanning himself with the magazine once before dropping it on Kaoru's face. "It feels hot."

Kaoru stood so fast he had to scramble just so he wouldn't fall off the couch, shoving away the magazine that had ended up at his waist, and struggled to keep his eyes on his twin as he started looking for something in their hotel room.

"You did say no right?" Kaoru's voice hitched. "...Right?"

"Do you want coffee? I want coffee," Hikaru started to turn, looking for an open door or window that wouldn't take too long to crawl out of. "I need coffee."

Kaoru started to slowly shake his head, trying to find enough of his footing to stand, and bracing his hand on the couch."I just need you to tell me you said no. Like, I just need there to be an understanding between us that you said no."

Hikaru stopped, turning as he wiped the sweat from his hands on the front of his pants. Hot. It was very hot.

He bit both his lips closed as he shook his head, no.

Kaoru's face fell, shaking his head in the same rhythm as his twin.

"That's good," his voice squeaked. "You're good. You almost had me with that last bit, but of course it was a joke. I mean, if you weren't lying, you'd have told me before you'd accept a marriage proposal. Right?"

Hikaru gave a tiny shrug.

Kaoru's voice hardened. "You would have told me. Right?"

"Yeah," Hikaru squeaked back.

"That's right. I mean, you barely know the woman."

"But like, hypothetically speaking, if I did say yes. It'd be okay though." Hikaru concluded, as Kaoru's eyes started to narrow. "Because really, when it comes down to it, it's my decision and you still have to love me."

"Now wait just a second-"

There was a pause, as both their mouths hung open, before Kaoru finally exploded. "You mean to tell me-!"

"It's not that bad!" Hikaru spluttered quickly.

"-That you got this woman's marriage proposal and you didn't tell me until after you said yes? Does all that time in the womb together mean nothing to you?"

"Technically," Hikaru started, quiet again. "It was my proposal. And... well, I was going to tell you, but she accepted a lot sooner than I thought. So technically, it's not really all my fault."

Kaoru's hands were on his thighs as he leaned over, suddenly feeling out of breath. "You asked her? And you didn't stop to think, "oh, maybe Kaoru should know?'"

"See, that was the problem." Hikaru held his hands out, weighing his options. "Should I ask you, and have you say no, then do it anyway and have you get mad? Or, do it without telling you, and then have you get mad. Either way, I knew you'd be mad."

Kaoru paused momentarily, mouth still open. "Of course I'm mad!" He snapped. "Why would you do that? When did this even come up? Since when have you wanted to get hitched? Because this is the first I've heard about it."

"And Why her?" He continued before Hikaru had a chance to answer. "Which part of that philistine did you find so irresistible? You know she actually called da Vinci mediocre. I've never felt so humiliated."

"Don't you think you're being a bit harsh?" Hikaru intervened, lips giving a sympathetic smirk, "She wasn't so bad."

Kaoru only stared. He couldn't offer anything else. He couldn't talk anymore. He was out of breath. He collapsed back onto the couch, his face falling immediately into his hands. His elbows were barely able to rest on his knees as they shook. The cushion dipped soon after, as he felt Hikaru wearily take the spot beside him, and felt the presence of a warm hand soothe over his hair, where his own fingers started to dig at his bangs.

"I'm sorry," Hikaru managed. "I shouldn't have dropped the bomb like this. I was going to tell you at dinner."

"Because that would have made me feel better."

"No," Hikaru agreed. "But there would have been beer."

"You're going to hate it." Kaoru mumbled into his hands. "You're going to hate it and you're going to hate her and I'm going to say I told you so."

Hikaru scoffed, leaning all his weight against Kaoru and resting his head on his twin's shoulder. "I'm not expecting anything from her."

"So why are you doing this?" Kaoru finally asked, every ounce of agony and confusion dripping from his lips. "Are you trying to impress Mom? Because it's not hard. She really doesn't expect much of us - I would know - she told me."

"She thought it was 'admirable' that you were taking over Dad's Software company. She's already proud of you. You don't have to marry the first girl Mom points her finger at."

Hikaru hesitated, his own face bearing the same lines of tension and pain. He would have preferred Kaoru still yell at him. Not begging and asking why. That wasn't fair.

He took both of Kaoru's hands into his own but Kaoru turned his nose and refused to look at him. "It's not because of Mom." Hikaru said.

"Her track record is impressive." He added, feeling his brother shift awkwardly under him. "She just made a 4 Million Euro deal with Harlem Capital. And she has a pretty solid partnership with this company in New York for the next five years."

Kaoru's legs turned to lead as he shot right off the couch again. This sounded more like an investment than a marriage. And that thought left a certain bitterness on his tongue that he couldn't help but choke on. "You'd stoop that low? What happened to making fun of people who married for money?"

Hikaru frowned. "Yeah, well. Turns out life is hard without money."

"Since when?"

"Since Dad's company filed for bankruptcy."

At that moment Kaoru was glad he decided to sit back down, because he felt all that past strength leave his knees. He suddenly found it hard to swallow. Now that seemed like something someone should have told him, but he had the feeling he was probably the last to know.

"They're not completely in the slum yet." Hikaru said, watching the many expressions flash across brother's face as he processed it. "But he's been thinking about it. They're running out of money and they can't afford to keep up like they used to."

"Dad put you up to this?"

"No. He told me not to."

"I don't understand," Kaoru said dismally. "You really want this? You know you don't have to save dad's company. That's not on you."

"I don't have to but I can," Hikaru was unyielding. Kaoru hated that about him. "These old timers keep sucking on their gums, now the company's under water. Instead of wasting time opening my own branch off of them and kissing their boots, Dad's going to give me the company. Now he won't have to sell it off to an investor or be closed down."

Hikaru raised himself up until he was sitting on his knees, taking Kaoru's hand again and holding it to his chest. Desperate fingers digging into his palm. Kaoru tried to pull away but his heart was already weak. "I know what I'm doing. I have good ideas. I know I can fix it."

It was hard to say no. Kaoru couldn't say no. This was cruel but he couldn't decide if this very lonely feeling was selfish or not. When they moved to Spain they were determined to live separate lives, so it wasn't as though he thought they'd always be together. That was a notion they both thought was silly now. They'd gone to different universities. They were inheriting their own companies. They were meeting new people. They made their own friends.

But marriage was a step he didn't think either of them would be taking any time soon, and he felt like he was losing him. They were only 22.

"Isn't it scary?" He asked without thinking, and the grip on his hand tightened.

"Sure," Hikaru said softly. "But so was moving away from home. And going to school all the way in Italy, by myself. But it worked out."

"I'm not even accustomed to the taste of hard liquor yet and you're getting married."

"You only need to get drunk and lost in Valencia once in your life."

Kaoru nodded. That was scary. It was a good thing their mom was visiting then and knew how to decipher drunk text messages. They would have been shipped to Mexico.

Hikaru turned to him then, pools of auburn swimming with so much emotion that he couldn't look away. "I know this is weird. And I'm asking you for a lot, but I want this." He said honestly, "This is what I really want to do. Just trust me. Please."

"She's going to eat your heart while you're sleeping and I won't cry about it."

Hikaru grinned, kissing Kaoru's knuckles. "Surely you'd cry a little."

"If Ageha asks, I'm telling her you died cowardly."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Peekaboo it's Chapter 2! This time the wonderfully amazing and talented DefinitelyDivergent was here with me along the way as beta-reader! Thanking her from the bottom of my heart!
> 
> All constructive crit is loved and appreciated! Let us know what you think!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seville, Spain

Seville, Spain

He wasn't irresponsible.

At least. That's what Hikaru kept grumpily insisting to himself.

In fact, he'd thought about it a lot, even before he'd eavesdropped on his father and overheard they were going bankrupt. Hikaru hadn't been serious but he knew it was an option when he thought about opening his own branch off his dad's company.

Irene was just the first thing that came to mind when his father admitted that he didn't care about the company anymore anyway and was content with early retirement.

Marrying for money was just the desperate response he gave after his father asked how? without the company becoming their family's burden? as Hikaru begged, close to tears, that he give all of his debts to him.

His father's elegant grey brow arched so high it almost touched his hairline. So that's where Kaoru got it from. "You do know what that entails?"

He hesitated a moment, before retorting. "Probably."

A lot of extra stuff sure, but those were just details and if he ignored those, it didn't seem so bad. Details were for people like, Kaoru.

"Do you know how much money I owe?" His father emphasized. "Do you know that, that would be your debt to pay back? And marrying for prospects is actually much more complicated than your rich new wife writing you a check?"

"I don't care how much it is." Hikaru voice cracked. "I'll pay it back. I know what I'm doing."

"Hikaru, you're only 22."The elder man said. "You're smart. You could start your own company. You don't need to polish dirt."

"I don't-"

"You're too young to really understand the weight of that burden and how unfair that'd be to you. Even married you'd be paying this back for more than half your life."

His father kept saying meaningless things. And it only frustrated Hikaru. He didn't study to start his own business. He studied to work with him. To take it over from him. To have his success be something he shared with someone. To have something he owned all on his own was something too far out of his league. But he couldn't say that out loud.

"It's not like I have anything else going on." Hikaru argued.

"I've already said no."

"But why?"

Hikaru glowered until his own brow touched the base of his nose. People really did think about the little things too much.

He knew he was making that face a long while, with his arms crossed, and maybe that's what finally broke his father, maybe not, but eventually he sighed, deeply, and put away the fancy pen that had been caged between his fingers.

"Alright," he started, making his chair squeak as he started to lean further away from his desk, his hands perched over one knee as he crossed his legs. It was a very dad like thing he started to do recently. It was weird. Hikaru wished he'd stop that.

"I'll make you a deal," his dad continued, and that made Hikaru frown even more. "If Kaoru gives his blessings-"

Hikaru groaned.

"I'll hold off surrendering the company. You can decide what to do after that."

Hikaru suddenly stood. "But that's not fair. He wouldn't let me."

"Why would you think that?"

"Kaoru never lets me do anything."

But Kaoru didn't need to know that he and Irene had already met prior to their mother's request for a formal luncheon with the small Pérez family, or that they had already talked about eloping before his mother had all but presented him to her like a fine dish to be devoured.

They'd made their deal, after having just met, after a tipsy conversation somewhere in Valencia. And Irene didn't ask for much. He needed money, as impossible as that sounded, and she happened to be very wealthy.

While all she needed was a husband, because that said wealth happened to be controlled by her ill father, and if she didn't find a husband before her old man kicked the bucket all of his assets and wealth would be surrendered to his shareholders.

And well... Hikaru was a guy, and in other words, could be, a husband. That was easy. Probably.

What he thought would be hard was pretending to be freshly acquainted, after just last week, when Hikaru dropped the ball on his brother about his engagement, but he was surprised that soft spoken Irene, who talked as gentle as a bird, wasn't swayed by pressure.

"I'm impressed you've come to recognize us so quickly," Kaoru snarked in a distressedly polite tone. "It used to take some people years to guess, which one of us was Hikaru."

"I could tell right away." She had replied airily, like she was only half awake. "By his eyes. They're very pretty."

Then Hikaru had smiled at her.

Kaoru couldn't respond. He was dry heaving.

And hours had passed after that before Kaoru came bursting into his bedroom that night, hair still wet from his bath, towel framing his waist, as he shouted that their eyes were identical, equally as pretty, and that she was a fraud.

So you can imagine the fit Kaoru threw when he had to chaperone one of their "dates". Or this morning, when Hikaru asked him to come help pick out an engagement ring for Irene, who had asked out of the blue when he was going to propose to her for real. It was almost as if the devil had possessed his precious little brother's body and died.

"Get that one." Kaoru had demanded insistently, pointing to the one with the biggest rock.

"Why that one?"

"It's ugly."

Hikaru wasn't impressed, so that landed Kaoru a sharp nudge to his ribs.

"You said you'd help." Hikaru argued, frowning so nastily at all his options that the clerk behind the counter was starting to grumble that Hikaru must be cheap. Which was hurtful, because it's not that he was on a budget. He wasn't a poor person. He might be marrying for money, but he could still very well buy the whole store along with all of it's riches and then some, the problem was, Irene.

"I don't know what she'd like." He admitted with a frustrated pout.

"Oh?" Kaoru's ears perked up, as he flipped mindlessly through one of the jewelry catalogs. "I guess getting to know someone before getting married might not actually be complete rubbish after all. But no," he griped. "But you wanted a bargain."

And sure, he must have a pretty good point, because his brother's nagging was the only thing Hikaru could really hear as he guided his betrothed around Seville. He gave himself a pat on the back earlier while planning this proposal because of how in-tune he was in the ways of romance and women.

It was a romantic city, with tall stone buildings, but lots of open skies to watch the peach and violet motley sunset. They were surrounded by tall statues and water fountains that had special lights that changed colors right at this very moment, as they stood in the middle of a bridge that stretched over a shallow river that was freshly bloomed with water lilies.

He was impressed. Truly. It turned out perfect. The problem was, Irene. Again.

She turned around, face contorting unsurely as she sort of hissed through her teeth, watching as he struggled to get down on one knee. "Oh, ah... We're doing this now?"

Hikaru closed his eyes and slowly took a deep breath. Now I know she did not just say that-

She quickly started to wave her hands. "Okay I'm sorry. You're right. It's very nice. Continue."

He let out that breath in one large huff, fishing out that tiny velvet box out of his pocket. "Will you-"

"No" She whined. "You can't start with that. You have to be romantic."

"Be romantic-!" He half gasped, one of his arms stretched midair to insist that there were literal swans in the pond and that he was being the epitome of romantic. But he stopped himself. "What am I supposed to say?" He complained instead. "I have nothing to work with."

Irene ignored him, fixing her hair in her phone's reflection before setting up the video on her tripod. "Make something up. My father's going to see this so it has to be believable."

After a few moments of thought, Hikaru cleared his throat.

Fine. Now was the time to take a page out of a book from the most romantic person he knew. But he had to be simple. He could sweep her completely off her feet if he wasn't careful.

He flared out his chest, opening his mouth wide. "Thou shall I-

But luckily for him she hated Shakespeare and settled for a photo of him proposing instead.

She was in the middle of editing that dumb picture when she nearly shoved her hand into his face. "Okay now you can say it."

But that's where he choked.

It was a very strange scenario to him. It felt almost alien. There was a ring sitting between his fingers and a hand in front of him that he was about to slip it onto. It was so symbolic but the feeling he had was empty. Love was silly. He knew from experience. And he sort of knew that he'd never settle down. That just sounded lifeless. But even he knew that if this ever did happen to him. If he ever really did fall in love again, he wasn't supposed to feel like this.

He looked absently into her eyes that stared elsewhere. His throat swelled, and his tongue stiffened, forcing those words out in a heavy whisper. It almost sounded longing. "Will you marry me?"

Even Irene was unsettled from the amount of feeling that came out of his mouth, that she felt like she had to respond. "Y...Yeah?"

Another deep breath left him and so did his soul, he assumed, because his arms felt like lead as he slipped the ring to her knuckle.

It wasn't like he was expecting a better reaction. He had told himself from the beginning not to expect anything, but for some reason, having such an underwhelming atmosphere to what was supposed to be a very important and meaningful part of his life was actually heartrending and bothered him more than he thought it would.

But he kept that to himself.

Irene twisted her new engagement ring around her finger, trying the feel. He guessed Kaoru, as observant as he was, being forced to kiss her hand that one time came in handy because it was a perfect fit.

"You can take me home now." She said, after a few awkward seconds. "I'm tired."

She sounded frustrated and was looking at him with a prickly stare. Which also frustrated him because he wasn't sure what he did wrong.

She walked past him and he felt her skirts brush his shoulder, still glued in his kneeling position as his sudden lack of energy left him stuck there.

He wasn't sure how long he was there as he fiddled with that now empty ring box between his hands, with his head low, watching the fountains. But not much longer another, much squeakier voice errupted from beside him. But it was just a little too late.

"Oh, Hikaru! Of course I'll marry you."

Hikaru just sighed, not wanting to even meet his gaze. Had he been watching this whole time?

Kaoru gasped, turning away. "But this is so sudden. What would your fiancee say?"

"Just help me up, you git."

"Quick, before she sees." he whispered loudly, thrusting what Hikaru oddly took note of, was a much softer, much kinder hand out for him to take. One that fit nicely in his hand and was strong enough to pull him off his sore knee. "That gaze of hers will turn us to stone."

"We'll run away to Paris together." Kaoru added wisely, but softly against his ear. "Such a heartwarming love affair - you and I."

Hikaru didn't respond.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3 ! Again, my beta, the amazing DefinitelyDivergent made this the most possible! Thank you for sharing this journey with me.
> 
> Chapter 4 is coming soon !


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Madrid, Spain

During a pause in conversation, Yazuha casted a critiqued eye to her surroundings.

They were having lunch at a small restaurant near the hotel she shared with her husband Hayato, Ageha. She wasn't a huge fan of the food in Spain, despite her sons raving on about how this particular chef's paella was to die for.

The food wasn't the only thing she wanted to complain about. The chairs were wicker and tugged on her skirt and, by sheer coincidence, Irene's father Danilo happened to be in town when neither of them were busy, so they felt compelled to invite the poor old thing to town with them.

He was a short but stocky old man. He never told them his age but she guessed he must be around his sixties by the look of his greyed forehead and deep wrinkles, but he only wore his glasses to read.

His wife had passed away too, which is how he opened conversation. She was his third wife however and not even Irene's real mother which would explain his detachment as he quickly waved her out of the topic.

Yazuha hadn't been paying much attention. The only thing she got from his continuous talking was how much she hated how he chewed his food. On multiple occasions Hayato had to remind her not to stare, but if she had to sit through another one of the old man's rants about how exceptional he was she was going to fall asleep.

Wasn't this man dying? She wondered how he wasn't dead yet. He talked so much, surely he'd run out of breath soon.

"But enough about me," Danilo said.

Yazuha forced a tight smile. It was too bad Ageha wasn't a fussy baby, and they didn't have a reason to leave.

"Our children are getting married," Danilo clapped once, took it upon himself to refill Yazuha's glass with more champagne. "I'm not going to lie. I was a little worried when Irene said she was going to marry one of the famous Hitachiin twins. Ah-" he cleared his throat, "you have a lovely family, of course, mind you-"

She hummed into her champagne, daring him to go on. It was too bad her husband wasn't much of a talker either.

"I guess I should say I'm grateful it was who it was that asked for my daughter's hand," Danilo added. "I know your younger son has... questionable objectives." That was such a long and stupid word, and Yazuha noticed how he strained to say it. Needless to say, he was unnecessarily irritating.

She tried to interject, but he wanted to continue so badly that he spoke above her. "Taking over your family's smaller company. I mean, it's very audacious. He has my respect. I just don't think I would ever let that happen. It sounds like a waste of a son," Danilo looked at Hayato. "But I see you have much more faith in your children than I do."

Hayato laughed as his knife scratched against his plate. "I hope you mean your own," he said.

Danilo continued to laugh about that on his own while Yazuha and Hayato both fell into a bitter silence.

"But Hikaru, on the other hand, has eased my heart," he said thoughtfully, for the first time, and Yazuha finally had somewhat of interest in what he had to say. "I was worried no one would ever find Irene desirable as a wife. I know I speak for all of us when I say that I'd much rather leave my fortune to my future grandchildren than to surrender it to my shareholders."

Yazuha scratched inside her ear. Did she hear that right?

Irene? The girl who always wore turtlenecks under her dresses? She'd only known the girl for a little over a week but already she seemed so much like a wife that it was almost tiresome. She was picky, and talked too softly and was so incredibly boring that it was a wonder how her son hadn't gotten fed up yet. But she was nice, and she smiled whenever Hikaru talked, and she was very pretty. Not the least bit undesirable.

Hayato felt her nudge at him, and quickly cleared his throat. "Well, we're very happy to have her." Probably. 

"I hope marrying Hikaru will keep her occupied at least," Danilo said with a breath much deeper than a sigh. "I'm embarrassed to say she's been in a phase, but had I had any more children after her I wouldn't have even bothered writing her in my will because she's so irresponsible. If I left her to her own devices for just a day, my company would look a lot like yours." He gave Hayato another glance from the side.

"But I was right waiting 'till Irene wed. I feel much more comfortable leaving my holdings to someone like your son." He kept going without even a short pause. Yazuha was able to down her entire glass of champagne before he finally stopped. "The fashion industry is certainly welcomed to have him."

"Actually, I think you're mistaken-" Hayato tried to say but a throaty sound from Yazuha stopped him.

"I mean," he started over, "our family is very welcome to have you, and your daughter... It really is a pleasure." Yazuha nodded.

"To our children," Danilo raised his glass in cheers with a weak grin. "And all their fabulous new wealth."

Yazuha raised her empty cup, less heartily. "Yes! Children and money. Very good."

"And to your other son and his endeavors," Danilo nodded thoughtfully. He must've thought it was very kind just to include their other son. "Ah, what was his name?"

"Kaoru." The couple answered.

"To Kaoru too! And his computers."

"Yes," Hayato said with a sideways glance towards his wife. "To Kaoru and his computers."

Luckily for the both of them, Danilo soon got word of some "very important business" he had to attend to, and they were able to urge him on his way, despite the old man insisting that he at least had time for dessert with them. Yazuha even helped him collect his things and showed him to the door. He had a few more things to say about himself before he truly said his farewells but neither of them really listened.

"Either he doesn't know the difference between the boys, or your son is deceiving that old man for his money," Yazuha said between her teeth as she smiled and twinkled her fingers at Danilo, who was still waving behind his car window. "But honestly, I wouldn't feel bad if it was the latter. I wanted to throw grapes in his mouth."

"Personally, I'm more worried about his irresponsible daughter who we'll have to be responsible for after he's gone," Hayato admitted. "Maybe you should have looked into this family a bit more before blessing your son's engagement."

"It's not like Hikaru really gave me the time," she defended. "Besides, when he asked to take over your company, you were supposed to tell him no."

"I did, but he kind of just ignored me," Hayato sighed.

"I guess there's only one thing left to do then," Yazuha concluded, as she fished her sunglasses from her purse and slipped them on with one hand. "Ignore their problems and let them figure it out themselves."

They shared a short laugh about that before falling quiet.

"I'll talk to him," she groaned. "But it'd be easier just to send him to boarding school again."

"He has a masters in engineering."

"Don't remind me."

Speaking of puppies, Hikaru felt oddly similar to one. Both sad because Kaoru hadn't come with him today as his chaperone like he usually did, (not that he needed one but it would've been nice) and that he had to mindlessly trot behind his new fiancée and hold her purse as she wandered through the Plaza Norte like it was a jungle to be explored.

She was a typical girl strolling through a mall. She ate a tiny lunch and went straight to the clothing section and spent most of the time in the dressing rooms. She even asked for his opinion a couple of times. Except everything he said was wrong.

This whole date was awful, he'd decided, after just three hours, and made a mental note to tell Kaoru that he did not recommend it.

If fact, he was in the middle of texting his brother right now just what he thought about girls and their stupid tall shoes when a shirt came flying at him and almost made him drop his phone.

"Hold that." Irene said from behind the changing stall's door.

Hikaru pulled the shirt off his head. "Are we done yet?" he asked but it sounded more like a demand. "I'm starting to look dumb just standing here. And there's nothing interesting in your purse. I checked."

Except the taser that was in the shape of a tube of lipstick. That was cool, but now his finger kind of hurt.

If rolling your eyes had a sound, that was the sound she made when she opened the stall door. Her hands were behind her back as she finished with her dress' zipper.

"Then what do you think about this one? Since you hate everything," Irene asked.

That wasn't fair to say. He only hated most of them.

Hikaru looked away from his phone as his bottom lip was pouting past his chin until he saw an unexpectedly large amount of bare lady skin, and the sharpness of his breath could've cut through glass.

"I can see your thighs!" He gasped.

His voice alerted the other women shopping behind them and each of them took the chance to glare at his crudeness. Irene, drowning in a different kind of embarrassment, closed the very sheer curtain that separated Hikaru's stupid voice from the rest of the small store. 

"You have a tattoo on your thigh," he whispered loudly, as if she didn't already know.

She stretched the hem of her skirt awkwardly past the tattooed snake that was just above her knee. "What are you, twelve?"

Humph. No. Hikaru 'd seen girl's in short dresses before. He wasn't weird. She just surprised him.

The black dress she had chose was tiny, and it looked plastic and stretchy. Like a rubber dress on a Barbie doll. It hugged a lot of curves he hadn't seen before under all those long flowy dresses she'd worn.

Hikaru, in comparison, was dressed like a proper lad, with a dark pair of jeans, a white button-up and a freshly pressed blazer. He'd combed his hair back and even had one of those tiny fancy handkerchiefs in his front pocket that he could whip out in case Irene started to cry.

The play they were going to later tonight was very emotional after all. A certain blonde had told him over the phone to be prepared for "Lady tears."

Hikaru wasn't sure what the difference was from those and regular tears, but they were very apparently very powerful and he wanted to be ready.

She was still pressed against him after closing the curtain, and he made the mistake of glancing down the front of her shirt.

"You're not wearing a-!"

"Don't finish that," her voice threatened knives to his throat, and he closed his mouth so fast he bit his tongue.

"You can't wear that to the theater," he said insistently, red-faced.

"We're not going to the theater," Irene hissed back. "I can't sit through another one of those or any more Orchestras concerts. I nearly clawed my eyes out, out of boredom yesterday. And the dress you made was so itchy."

Hikaru gasped, this time offended. "Of course you'd say that. You left before the third symphony," he ranted. "Moonlight Sonata was actually written just for piano, so it's orchestras are very complex. The cellos were really impressive." Kaoru had cried at the performance. He loved the cello.

"We're not going," she repeated, more exasperated this time. "I just said I'd go so your brother wouldn't follow us around. If you're not too scared, I'd rather go do something else that's more fun."

Hikaru looked at her doubtfully as he thought about the theater tickets in his back pocket. What could be more fun than The Tragedy of Othello?

"Okay," he hesitated, he didn't really want to see the play again without Kaoru anyway. "I'll just tell Kaoru where we're going then. Maybe he'll want to come too."

She was close enough to him that she was able to pluck his phone right out of his hands. Her chest started to press up against him and soon his back was flattened to the wall.

"How about you not?" she purred.

It'd been a long time since Hikaru had been to the beach. That was his very first thought after stepping out of the taxi they'd taken, that was now dropping them off at who knows where.

That was new to him too. He'd never been on a taxi sober before, but he wasn't a huge fan.

He didn't care for this part of the capital. It was dirty, and dark, and he was pretty sure they were lost, but the city's lights were extra bright down the hill that he could see, for the noisy tourists who were still out running amuck.

It was weird, when Irene had the driver stop in the middle of the road, and when she pulled him out of the car by his elbow onto a sandy road. Though, she'd been acting weird all night so he was too afraid to tell her that he hadn't brought his walking shoes and that if her plan was to hike in the dark he'd have to decline.

But then she hitched up the skirt of her dress, which was already pretty high up there, to step over the guardrails. Then she gestured at him to follow her.

Hikaru turned to look over his shoulder. Surely she didn't mean him. Last time he'd checked there were just rocks and water down there.

His next thought made him gasp. What if she wanted to skinny dip? "Oh, no thank you."

Irene shrugged, "I guess instead of going to a party on a private yacht, you could just go back home with your brother and wipe chip crumbs off of each other's faces."

Judging by her tone she was just jealous, obviously, but he didn't want to rub it in.

But the mention of a party on a boat made him curious enough. He looked down past the hill where, at the very far end of the crescent shaped beach, there were actually a few yachts lined along the coast connected by generous metal bridges. There were flashing lights, and probably music and now suddenly he had an itch he couldn't scratch.

"Oh," Hikaru finally breathed.

He looked down at his watch. It wasn't like Kaoru was waiting for him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Madrid, Spain

Kaoru had waited.

He was up past midnight, pacing the kitchenette of their hotel room, waiting for his brother to fumble through the door or at least text him back.

It was very unlike Hikaru to leave him to read. And it wasn't like he was being unreasonable and intruding into Hikaru's personal space (not that he had any) he just asked if he had eaten, where he was sleeping that night, or if he had died.

A very rational response, he told himself after reading his texts to his brother. They were only visiting Madrid with their parents after all. They were really only familiar with the cities surrounding their home in Valencia. What if Hikaru had gotten lost? Most of the signs and directions were either in Spanish and English and Hikaru wasn't very good at either of those.

Hikaru hadn't even read Kaoru's last text, which was unfortunate, because that meant he was dead.

A shame. The last thing Kaoru had said to him was that he should wear a purple tie to the theater. Kaoru knew he'd hurt his feelings because purple obviously would have clashed with his outfit, but he couldn't help it. Hikaru was basically asking for it by taking someone like Irene to see Othello.

But Kaoru had held off on a search party for his twin's body, because while he was having a much needed therapeutic tea bath in the morning as he ate his fruit and toast, he got a notification that Hikaru was tagged in one of Irene's Instagram posts of a sunrise while on a boat 3 hours ago.

Which was even more unfortunate, because that meant Hikaru had spent the night with Irene.

He would have preferred he died.

Kaoru spent the next few hours afterwards sitting in nothing but his bathrobe, having nothing better to do than sulk in front of the TV and eat chocolate covered strawberries. He hated to be this lazy on a Saturday, but he needed the pickmeup. It's not everyday you shun your brother.

And yet, when the door suddenly opened, he scrambled up to look over the arm of the couch like an anxious puppy. But he flopped back down on his nest of pillows when he saw that it was just his mother.

Yazuha was smiling when she entered, letting go of Ageha's tiny hand and letting the baby waddle into the room, but her smile disappeared when she saw her son.

"Oh geez." Was he not wearing any pants? "Kaoru..."

"Mother," he greeted, half heartedly, just as Ageha ignored his open arm hug and went straight for the chocolate candy on the table. Hm. Typical. She was just like their brother.

"Are you having a bad hair day?" Yazuha asked, nodding in understanding. Those could be rough. "Do you need dry shampoo?" Immediately she started to dig through the diaper bag. "Don't worry, I have dry shampoo."

"My hair's not the problem," Kaoru snapped.

She looked at his hair doubtfully. Well, it's not great.

"Well I won't keep you then. I really just came to see Hikaru," Yazuha said, and started to glance impatiently around the room. "Is he still sleeping?"

"He's out," Kaoru retorted, shrugging the remote out from somewhere under the thick fluff of his robe. "Haven't seen him."

"I see." His mother cleared her throat. "In that case, I have a favor to ask."

"Unless-" she watched as he pulled his feet under his bottom to watch the rest of his Spanish soap opera curled up in a ball, "-you're having a bad day. I could come back tomorrow," he pulled the blanket up to his chin, "or send you an email."

"Might as well ask now," he said. "You're already here."

There was a moment of silence before Yazuha decided to just ignore how disgustingly depressed he was and clapped her hands. "Right! Actually, I have some juicy gossip that might cheer you up. You know that girl Hikaru is obsessed with?"

"Irene?" Kaoru grumbled under his blanket. "He's not obsessed," He defended.

"Uh huh," she moved to block his view of the tv, but he just frowned. "I know you don't really like her, but she's super rich right? Daddy has a lot of money."

"She had her nose done." He added, spitefully. "I can tell."

Yazuha ignored that, too. "I always thought it was weird that I've never really heard anything about her. I mean surely no one's that rich and perfect and hasn't ever done anything wrong, until I heard the things her father said about her-"

"I'm rich and perfect, and I've never done anything wrong." Kaoru mumbled to himself.

"As it turns out, Irene's father has been paying a ridiculous amount just to keep the media quiet about her," she continued, "I thought that she was just frivolous with her money, but Irene's also got several misdemeanors under her, including ones for DUI's and theft. She's even gotten arrested for vandalizing and public intoxication in two countries."

The popcorn piece that Kaoru had laid on his tongue promptly caused a choking fit.

Kaoru slowly kicked away the blanket and rolled onto his side. "I'm gonna throw up."

"So, while she seems like a very nice girl," Yazuha said with a dismissive wave, for really just the sake of her conscience, "I think it might be best if Hikaru calls off the engagement."

"You couldn't have called earlier?!" Suddenly Kaoru gasped, finally able to breathe, and rolled too far off the couch, falling onto the floor. "Hikaru went out with her last night and never came back! And I've just been laying here!"

Yazuha scoffed. "When I asked where Hikaru was, you could have said he was with her. I would have gotten to the point faster."

"Although," she looked him up and down, and all of the food crumbs on the table, "this all makes a lot more sense now."

She watched as Kaoru made a weird sound and whipped a pair of pants that were under the couch and frantically stumbled into each pant leg, while also running his mouth with his phone in one hand. Truly a magnificent feat. Her children were so talented.

"I said it was a bad idea from the start, but oh no, Kaoru was just being obsessive." He spat.

"You are."

"It's called knowing what's best. I knew Hikaru didn't have the social skills to marry for money. What's her deal anyway? She's rich, so what's in it for her?"

Yazuha shrugged. "It's one of those depressing 'I wish my father loved me' backstories I bet. Her father plans on giving all of his money to Hikaru, so Irene's probably using him as a stepping stool."

"Well she can find someone else to play her evil mind tricks on," Kaoru decided, grabbing his keys. Where was he going? He didn't know, but Irene's most recent status locations were a good start. Hikaru was somewhere in San Sebastián.

Wonderful. A city booming with summertime tourists and booze.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Somewhere,

The party seemed to be in crews. Once the early morning struck many of those who were on the boat the night before just started to waddle home like drunk penguins until the only souls left on the boat were a few stragglers too hungover to find their ways home.

Then it was noon the following day and many random tourists were intrigued by the music and the alcohol in fancy cups. That's when Irene told Hikaru that she actually owned all of the party yachts lined along the coast. When things got too loud she led them inside one of the small cabins.

It was ironic that any time they even sort of got along was when they were drunk. But this time, even if his mind seemed more occupied with the cherries at the bottom of his Sangria at first, after a while of talking, their drinks eventually abandoned, he started to genuinely enjoy her company.

Irene was actually interesting.

Irene could speak four languages. Spanish, English, Japanese and even a little Mandarin, and she had gone to the same university two years before him in Italy. She even had plenty other tattoos that could be cleverly hidden, like a Spanish quote (that he couldn't read) that was across the back of her shoulders, and a butterfly behind her left ear that he noticed when she scooted closer to him on the small couch.

Things like Philosophy and Broadway didn't interest her, and she thought things like old painters and Host Clubs were stupid, but she had interesting stories, and a sense of humor. Her sarcasm made him laugh.

He must've fallen asleep sometime between then and now but he wasn't entirely sure, because next time he opened his eyes, he was laying in the same spot on the couch, except now Irene had her tiny feet draped over his knees, a single toe poking through her torn fishnets. One of her hands was holding her phone, the other had a lit cigarette that looked sort of abandoned, as her fingers held it loosely near the floor.

This room looked different than it did last night. It was smaller, and darker, but he knew it must be morning by now.

Hikaru rolled his shoulders backwards with an ugly groan. This definitely was the most uncomfortable cushion he had ever laid on, and he could feel the consequences of that everywhere. He might as well have slept on the floor.

Irene was too occupied by her phone to notice, or maybe just didn't care, when he got up and moseyed around the tiny room. It was surprisingly refreshing actually! The salty air felt rather clean. He'd never slept on a boat before.

The short ceiling didn't compliment his 6 foot statue, so he had to duck quite a ways so as not to hit his head getting onto the deck, but once out in the open air he could finally stretch his hands over his head and twist his back.

Someone tapped his shoulder. It was a man with shaggy blonde hair. He wasn't wearing any shoes, and his body was swaying to the loud noise coming from his headphones. He didn't look like your average maid, but then again, Hikaru had never seen a boat maid before.

"Oh, thank you," Hikaru said, genuinely when the man handed him a glass of orange juice in a plastic red cup. What friendly staff! It was a shame he couldn't tip him.

He got comfortable in the place he was standing and started to look at his scenery. The water was crisp and solid like glass, so still the boat didn't move. He took a generous sip, to really take advantage of this invigorating new setting around him, but then started to choke.

That's not orange juice!

He sat the cup down like it was diseased, and his next thought was to look for Kaoru immediately. They could get proper lunch together, maybe some real orange juice, but it didn't take long for him to remember the accounts of last night, and that Kaoru wasn't there with him.

His hands started to search his pockets for his phone. six missed calls from his brother made him anxious. Had he slept in that late? But when he tried to call Kaoru back, he couldn't get a signal.

Hikaru looked west of the boat, towards the beach, or rather, where the beach used to be, and gave a weird sound that was half gasp half horrified shout, and almost fell over the railing.

"Irene," Hikaru started calmly, as she groggily ascended from the stairs, rubbing her eyes.

"Where's Spain?" He asked.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoy writing it! Updates may be slow, as life is too fast, but I have big plans for Speak Now so please stay tuned! Also, a very special thank you to ' @ Definitely Divergent ' on Tumblr for being the best, and very supportive Beta! She gives me the confidence to keep sharing.


End file.
